Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Motor Learning in Children With Cerebral Palsy (CP)

April 23, 2020 updated by: Felipe Fregni, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Effects of tDCS in Cortical Plasticity and Motor Learning in Children With Cerebral Palsy

In this study, the investigators aim to assess the clinical and neurophysiological effects of a non-invasive brain stimulation technique - transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)- on cortical plasticity and motor learning in children with cerebral palsy. Investigators will use different assessment techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and kinematics (sensors) to measure changes through the trial.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

5

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States, 02129
        • Spaulding Rehabilitation Network Research Institute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

8 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age of participants must be between 8 and 18 years old.
  • Diagnosis of spastic or mixed CP with distribution of diplegia and/or hemiplegia form.
  • Gross Motor Function Classification System for Cerebral Palsy (GMFCS) level II and III.
  • Manual Ability Classification System for Children with CP (MACS) level II up to IV.
  • Ability to cooperate and follow directions.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Muscle tone reduction therapy in the past 3 months prior to study onset.
  • Upper limb orthopedic surgery in the past 3 months prior to study onset.
  • Any other form of therapy or procedure involving motor neuron junction inhibition; either by biochemical and/or mechanical denervation, in the past 3 months prior to study onset.
  • History of convulsive disorder in the past 2 years prior to study onset.
  • Current use of carbamazepine as anticonvulsive therapy.
  • Presence ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Active tDCS
Subjects will receive active tDCS stimulation for 5 sessions (20m/each) over one week.
Device: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
Subjects will receive tDCS stimulation 1x per day for 5 days (over the period of 1 week). Each session will be 20 minutes long. The subject will receive active stimulation for the entire 20 minutes.
Other Names:
  • transcranial stimulation
  • 1x1 direct current stimulator
  • soterix medical

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in motor assessments
Time Frame: Approximately 2 weeks
Investigators will measure changes in kinematic (sensor) assessments from baseline to follow-up. The sensor will collect Inertial Measurements Units (IMU) and complex motion sensing, as measured by accelerometer/gyroscope/magnetometer of freedom motion capture.
Approximately 2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in TMS measurements
Time Frame: Approximately 2 weeks
Investigators will measure change in TMS measurements from baseline to follow-up. TMS measures will consist of: motor threshold, motor evoked potentials (MEP's), transcallosal inhibition, and examinations of intracortical inhibition and facilitation.
Approximately 2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Collaborators

Pedal with Pete

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 8, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 8, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

May 13, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2020

Last Verified

April 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2012-p-000629

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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